3 ms·

There's also guys. I'm a student, so a common question at a party would be 'What do you study?'. The correct answer 'Physics' normally gets this reaction: 'Oh,

by kaybe 14y ago

There's also guys. I'm a student, so a common question at a party would be 'What do you study?'. The correct answer 'Physics' normally gets this reaction: 'Oh, I dropped that as soon as I could, cool that you can do this.' and then they turn around and talk to someone else. The only ones not doing this are other physicists, mathematicians and maybe IT people (consistently men and women, but it's worse for men). My female physicist friends report the same behavior. Right now I just mostly lie about my subject at social gatherings, because I'm so fed up with this.

claudius 14y ago
From personal experience, it appears that this reaction occurs to all physicists, regardless of gender. Maybe men care less about this than women and are hence less easily disinterested in the field?
madaxe 14y ago
Yeah, I hear that, and get the same - you can see the shutters come down the moment you say you did your degree in physics, or that you run an IT company. These days I tell people in random social situations I studied golf course management and run a marketing company. Goes down far better. If they're talking to me five minutes later, I reveal. That said, I think this is far more of a factor for women as they tend to be far more sensitive to social pressure than men. Why this is is another topic entirely, but in short: culture.
Goladus 14y ago
Next time someone asks you what you study, wait a beat then ask them (with humor) if they sing in the shower. It's not your fault they just asked you a boring question.
swombat 14y ago
I studied physics. Best subject of all, imho! XKCD got it wrong in http://xkcd.com/435/ http://xkcd.com/435/ - Maths is just a tool invented by physicists to solve Physics problems! :-) I'm sure those people at the parties you go to will be regretting their dislike of Physics when you have a brilliant career as whatever the hell you want to do and they are working at Starbucks.
return0 14y ago
guys may have the same problem too: http://imgdex.com/23aa http://imgdex.com/23aa

by kaybe 14y ago

claudius 14y ago

From personal experience, it appears that this reaction occurs to all physicists, regardless of gender. Maybe men care less about this than women and are hence less easily disinterested in the field?

madaxe 14y ago

Yeah, I hear that, and get the same - you can see the shutters come down the moment you say you did your degree in physics, or that you run an IT company. These days I tell people in random social situations I studied golf course management and run a marketing company. Goes down far better. If they're talking to me five minutes later, I reveal. That said, I think this is far more of a factor for women as they tend to be far more sensitive to social pressure than men. Why this is is another topic entirely, but in short: culture.

Goladus 14y ago

Next time someone asks you what you study, wait a beat then ask them (with humor) if they sing in the shower. It's not your fault they just asked you a boring question.

swombat 14y ago

I studied physics. Best subject of all, imho! XKCD got it wrong in http://xkcd.com/435/ http://xkcd.com/435/ - Maths is just a tool invented by physicists to solve Physics problems! :-) I'm sure those people at the parties you go to will be regretting their dislike of Physics when you have a brilliant career as whatever the hell you want to do and they are working at Starbucks.

return0 14y ago

guys may have the same problem too: http://imgdex.com/23aa http://imgdex.com/23aa